An aggressive passenger caused Wizz Air flight W43072 from Eindhoven, The Netherlands to Bucharest, Romania, to make an unscheduled stop in Nuremberg, Germany. The man, who became increasingly disruptive and refused to comply with the flight crew’s instructions, forced the pilot to divert the plane. Upon landing, German police arrested the man, according to Omroep Brabant.
The flight was already en route when the passenger sitting behind Auke (22) and Yael (21) suddenly began shouting. The flight crew attempted to de-escalate the situation, but their efforts only seemed to provoke him further. “The man became very angry with the staff and hit the luggage bins,” Auke recounted.
The man was speaking in a language other than Dutch or English, making it difficult for Auke and Yael to understand his outburst. A Romanian passenger seated nearby also struggled to interpret, but managed to convey that the man was threatening the flight staff.
As the tension mounted, a stewardess informed the pilot of the situation. The pilot then issued a warning over the loudspeaker, stating that if the man’s behavior did not improve, the plane would be forced to land.
The situation escalated further when the stewardess asked the man to sign a form, believed to be a final warning. “I don’t know exactly what it said. He probably had to sign that he would behave,” Auke explained. The man refused and became enraged once more. Frustrated by the potential delay, other passengers began shouting at him as well.
Given the deteriorating situation, the stewardess returned to the cockpit, and the pilot immediately announced the decision to divert the flight to Nuremberg. Upon arrival, three police vans met the plane on the tarmac, and the man was taken into custody.
The rest of the passengers remained on board while the police took statements from the flight crew. After a delay of approximately 90 minutes, the flight resumed its journey to Bucharest.
The flight was operated by an Airbus A321, registered HA-LXF.
